Archived: Skinny Revolution Ltd

Updated 31 October 2019

Skinny Revolution Ltd is a private clinic which provides medical treatment for weight loss and has been registered with the CQC since May 2018.

• The clinic was open from 9am to 9pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm Friday and Saturday. The premises are comprised of a reception area, waiting area and consultation room downstairs. There was an office and video consultation room upstairs. The consultations were completed at the main clinic and via video consultation.
• The service is delivered by the owner of the business, a nurse, two doctors and administration support.

How we inspected this service

This inspection was carried out at short notice so we did not receive information from the provider prior to inspecting the service. We spoke to the owner of the business, clinical and administrative staff. We observed phone calls and reviewed a range of documents.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection

Updated 31 October 2019

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Skinny Revolution Ltd to rate the service as part of our inspection programme.

CQC inspected the service on 14 January 2019 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding quality improvement, feedback and to have a registered manager. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found that improvements had been made, but this had not been fully resolved.

Skinny Revolution Ltd is a private clinic which provides medical treatment for weight loss.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in and of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Skinny Revolution Ltd provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

On the day of our inspection there was no registered manager in post. This is a requirement of their registration with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

• Our key findings were :

  • There was a prescribing policy in place which was being adhered to.
  • Where video consultation was taking place there was an effective process to verify the identity of the patient.
  • The provider supported patients using a private bespoke webpage and social media account.
  • Staff displayed a non-judgemental attitude and understanding when talking to patients.

  The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Review their processes for sharing prescribing information with the patients’ registered GP in line with GMC guidance.
  • Continue to improve the risk and governance arrangements for the service.
  • Implement a chaperone policy and review chaperone training for appropriate staff.
  Update policy to ensure a system to retain medical records in line with Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance

• Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care